Verkadalai Ammani Kozhakattai

The month of Aadi ( Tamil month) is considered very auspicious, especially Aadi sevvai ( tuesday) and Aadi velli ( friday). Every family have their own way of celebration. In our family, we make Kozhakattai ( South Indian version of dumplings) on one of the Aadi velli.
Yesterday being Aadi velli, I made vella Kozhakattai and ammani Kozhakattai.
Instead of making the traditional ammani Kozhakattai, I made a new variety.
I decided to make masala powder with Verkadalai as the main ingredient.
Peanuts are known as Verkadalai in Tamil. Peanuts are rich in protein and makes a very good snack by itself.
This is my own recipe and ingredients just fell in place as I started doing it.
As always, it’s a very simple recipe and very easy to make. Enriched with peanuts, it will be a good and wholesome snack . It can be made as a starter for a party, evening snack for kids or as and when it pleases you:)
My family and friends loved it. Hope you all will like it too:)

Now a days, processed rice flour for making Kozhakattai is available almost every where in Chennai. I have used ready made rice flour only. But it can be made at home too.

To make processed rice flour at home
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Wash and soak rice for 15-20 mins.
Drain completely and spread it on a thick kitchen towel and dry it under the shade.
When it’s almost dry, get it ground in a flour mill to a powder or you can grind it at home.

To this rice flour, add water, a tsp of oil and a pinch of salt in a pan and mix very well. There should be no lumps. The mixture should be of dosa batter consistency.

Heat a pan. Add the rice flour mixture and keep stirring continuously.
Cook till the mixture becomes thick and non sticky ( when you pinch it with your fingers, it should not stick). Let it cool.

To make the verkadalai powder
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Heat oil in a pan. Add urad dhal, roasted verkadalai, sesame seeds, red chillies and hing. Roast till the peanuts turns golden. Take the pan off the gas and add the grated coconut. Mix well and let it cool.
Add tamarind, jaggery, salt to taste and grind it to a powder ( let it be little coarse).

Add this powder to the rice dough and add 3 tbsps of oil. Mix everything well. Check for the seasonings.

Pinch a small portion of the dough and roll into small sized ball. Make uniform sized balls. Steam the rice balls for 12- 15 mins.
Cool the steamed balls.

Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add hing and curry leaves. Add the steamed rice balls and roast them till it becomes golden and crisp.